Kansas City’s Statehouse lobbying team holds big ambitions, and likely even bigger obstacles, for the session of Missouri legislature that starts next month.
“I’m not just worried about passing good things,” said Missouri state Sen. Lauren Arthur, whose district covers southwestern Clay County. “I’m worried about the Senate’s ability to perform its basic functions.”
The Kansas City Council approved an official list of 36 priorities for 2024, which the city’s lobbyists will push for in the legislature and state agencies.
Some parts of the wish list items look realistic, such as improved child care and eliminating sales tax on diapers and menstrual products.
Others are a stretch. Kansas Citians shouldn’t hold their breath for local control of the Kansas City Police Department, expanded access to contraception and abortion or voting rights legislation.
“I expect the Senate to look like a circus this year,” Arthur said. “Many of (my colleagues) are running against each other in the primary, so I don’t expect to see a ton of legislation move quickly.”
Here’s a list of some of Kansas City’s priorities this year, ranked by likelihood.
Likely
Arthur said that there has been some bipartisan interest in “quality of life” issues, such as child care and sales tax.
Quality child care:
What the city is asking for: “Support efforts to increase the accessibility of full-day and full-year quality birth through pre-K programs for all Missouri students.”
Why it’s asking: Nearly half of Missouri children under 5 live in areas considered “child care deserts.”
Why it’s likely: Child care expansion came close to passing last year, until a Republican filibuster killed the legislation in the Senate.
Gender equity in taxation:
What the city is asking for: “Support efforts to exempt diapers and menstrual products from sales tax.”
Why it’s asking: Diapers and menstrual products are currently taxed as “luxuries” at 4.225%. Sales taxes hit lower-income families the hardest.
Why it’s likely: A sales tax exemption for diapers and menstrual products has passed in both chambers of the legislature multiple times, but the legislation has never reached the finish line.
Possible
Safe parks and public spaces:
What the city is asking for: “Support … legislation that will make discharging a firearm within or into city limits with criminal negligence a state offense.”
Why it’s asking: Blair’s Law is named for Blair Shanahan Lane, an 11-year-old who was killed by celebratory gunfire in 2011.
Why it’s possible: Blair’s Law passed both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly last year before it was vetoed by Gov. Mike Parson. At the time, Parson said he supported Blair’s Law but opposed other measures included in the omnibus package, including measures to streamline expungement and give restitution to people wrongfully convicted of a crime.
Clearance of title:
What the city is asking for: “Support legislative efforts to amend requirements to more efficiently facilitate clearance of title in vacant lands in urban areas.”
Why it’s asking: This legislation would make it easier for the city to transfer lots in Kansas City’s land bank to develop land for housing and other uses.
Why it’s possible: Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is optimistic. He told The Beacon that he doesn’t see a reason why any legislator in Missouri would not support a bill that would fill vacant lots.
Access to homeownership:
What the city is asking for: “Expand availability of down payment and closing cost assistance programs and low- or zero-interest mortgages for first-time homebuyers.”
Why it’s asking: Buying a home has become more difficult in recent years because of competition with corporate investors with readier cash. That’s inflating home values and contributing to spikes in property assessments.
Why it’s possible: Many rural areas of the state have been experiencing an affordable housing crisis on par with the urban centers. Arthur hopes that will bring a shared sense of urgency and a bipartisan interest in taking action in the Missouri legislature.
Transparency in home sales:
What the city is asking for: “Legislative action to improve transparency surrounding investor purchasing of homes, including requirement to disclose investor principals of institutional buyers of 1- to 4-unit homes before point of sale.”
Why it’s asking: Kansas City has struggled to locate and contact absentee property owners when enforcing city codes, including health standards for apartments. That delays addressing issues like fire hazards and broken utilities.
Why it’s possible: Lucas said that the Missouri legislature isn’t usually keen on increasing the regulation of businesses. However, he said transparency in home sales would also allow Kansas City to manage vacant and blighted lots, which he hopes could have bipartisan support.
Ain’t likely
Voting rules:
What the city is asking for: “Legislative action that extends early voting, allows for same-day voter registration, and removes voter ID requirements.”
Why it’s asking: The NAACP and the League of Women Voters, as well as three individuals, are suing the state of Missouri over recent legislation tightening voter requirements. They allege that the new law makes it nearly impossible for certain people to vote.
Why it’s not likely: The voter ID requirement has been a legislative priority for the Republican supermajority for over a decade. It finally passed in May 2022 and it is unlikely that the General Assembly would take action to repeal it.
Police dashcam and bodycam video transparency:
What the city is asking for: “Allow the immediate release of mobile video recordings, including dash-cam and body-cam recordings, to the public to preserve peace and dispel public misunderstanding of a particular officer involved event.”
Why it’s asking: Many law enforcement agencies in Missouri only release body camera or dash camera footage after an investigation is complete, often months after alleged incidents of police brutality. Following the shooting of Leonna Hale in 2022, Lucas said that releasing footage sooner is in the best interests of “all parties involved.”
Why it’s not likely: The Missouri legislature passed a law in 2021 that created protections for police officers under investigation for misconduct. It is unlikely that the legislature would take action that would undermine those protections.
Local decision-making:
What the city is asking for: “Return the Kansas City Police Department to local control and provide the city and its residents with equivalent control over budgeting and policy decisions to every other municipality in the state.”
Why it’s asking: Kansas City is the only major city in the United States that does not have control over its own police department. The system of state control was established in St. Louis to assist Confederate forces in 1861 and it was imitated in Kansas City during the Reconstruction. For more than a century, Kansas City officials and civil rights leaders have called for an end to the system, arguing that it limits police accountability and creates financial problems for the city.
Why it’s not likely: The Missouri legislature has doubled down on state control in recent years. In 2022, the legislature voted to increase Kansas City’s police funding requirement, and in 2023 it explored reinstating the state control system in St. Louis.
Health care access:
What the city is asking for: “Oppose efforts that restrict access to or further criminalize necessary healthcare services, including contraception and abortion.”
Why it’s asking: Kansas City leaders have opposed the statewide ban on abortion. In nearby Johnson County, Kansas, more than two-thirds of voters rejected a constitutional amendment in 2022 that would have eliminated Kansans’ constitutional right to abortion.
Why it’s not likely: Missouri became the first U.S. state to ban abortion in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Advocacy groups are trying to place a constitutional amendment on the 2023 ballot to overturn Missouri’s ban, but legislative action is unlikely under the Republican supermajority.
